(McALLEN, Texas) - Armando Pineda, 37, of McAllen, Texas, a previously convicted felon, has been sentenced to 46 months in federal prison for possession of a firearm, United States Attorney José Angel Moreno announced today.

Chief United States District Judge Ricardo H. Hinojosa handed down the 46-month prison term today and further ordered Pineda to serve a two-year term of supervised release upon completing his sentence. Pineda has been in federal custody without bond since his November 2009 arrest. He will remain in custody pending transfer to a Bureau of Prisons facility to be designated in the near future where he will serve his sentence.

According to court documents, Pineda was found in possession of a firearm in November 2009 during a traffic stop by a Hidalgo County Sherriff’s deputy. When Pineda stepped out of the vehicle he was driving at the request of the deputy, a loaded .45 caliber handgun was observed in Pineda’s waistband. A records check determined that Pineda was a convicted felon. As a convicted felon, Pineda is prohibited under federal law from even possessing a firearm.

The Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Department contacted the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) who initiated the federal investigation confirming Pineda’s 1991 conviction for burglary of a habitation in Hidalgo County and in 1999 for two counts of aggravated robbery, possession of a prohibited weapon and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Steven Schammel.

The prosecution of Pineda is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, an ongoing gun violence reduction initiative of the Department of Justice, which partners federal, state and local law enforcement agencies nationwide to engage in a unified effort to prosecute individuals who possess firearms or ammunition in violation of federal law.